No brainer! ROAD KING!

I own an 04 Fatboy and I rented 08 Road King down south once and man let me tell ya,, for me the Road King is hands down the winner! You don't even know your going 75!

The FB is always looking for 6th gear on long rides and it's a lot stiffer then the RK.

Some day I'll own a RK. I would definitely love to have both but that ain't happnen anytime soon!

 

Here's another vote for the Softail. I have a Sportster that I've toured on for three seasons and I just needed something more comforatble for those 1,500 mile trips. Pretty much everyone I know who rides Harleys told me that the RK was the way to go. I took one out on the highway as well as tooled around town, and I came away with two impressions: 1) the RK is a magnificent bike, both in ride and ease of handling; 2) the RK isn't for me. I can't put my finger on it, but I just didn't like it. I rode a Softail and felt at home immediately. I bought a Heritage, and I'm in heaven. Like others have said, you gotta ride them both...and then you'll know which one speaks to you.

 

For me the Fatboy just works. I too don't like saddlebags on the bike so I opted for a swingarm bag for small things when I'm solo and I have the detachable backrest/luggage rack which I put a tail bag on for longer runs.

I intend on getting the biggest tail bag you can get for out of state runs. Kuryakyn has some nice huge ones.

 

I would do the fatboy because I enjoy the ride of a softail and it fits my body. If you like the style of a fatboy then I would get the fatboy.

 

If you put bags on a Fat Boy, you reduce the cool factor significantly. However it'll
still be WAY cooler looking than a Road King

You can tour on a Fat Boy, but I'd recommend a seat upgrade if you wanna do 500 mile trips

Get the Fat Boy

 

Hey Chunks, I thought that too about the seat. But it just keeps getting better and better. In fact I don't even want a new seat now because I don't want to break in another one. My longest ride has been 350 miles with lots of 200-300 rides.

 

Looking at one of the other threads, it looks like it'll run me about $1k just to get some quality bags...so unless you guys know of another source outside of H-D that would work well with it, I'm a little apprehensive. I've checked around H-D's website, and the bags are very costly if I want some even similar to what the RK has in regards to security (locking). Rigidity doesn't matter that much, but if I put some valuables in there, I don't want someone taking off with them. It seems all in all, I'll be looking at spending the same amount of money, minus a windshield, from what I can tell.

Regarding the seat, I had thought of getting the Brawler seat, with the passenger pillion, since I mainly ride solo anyway. Or...would you recommend something else for the FatBoy?

 

It doesn't sound like you'll do the touring rides enough to make the RK practical. I have both the Sporty and the Deluxe and I love either one for daily driving. But on the highway, the Deluxe wins hands down. I considered the RK, but it's a touring bike and it's not so much meant for city driving. If you're doing 80% of your riding in town or under a couple hundred miles...I'd say get the Fatboy. If you buy the RK just because it comes with bags and a windshield, you won't be happy. Get the bike to match your riding and then customize it. Don't buy the bike for it's accessories and then "live" with how it rides. You'll be sorry if you do it that way. My $.02.

 

Thanks, jbg, that is some good advice.

 

I've seen RKC Bags for Sale on Ebay for around 150-200 and the bracket is 100ish I think.

I want a slick looking bike that I can slap some bags on to go for a weekend few hundred mile cruise, so I'm pretty sure (going to test ride) I'm going with the Fatboy, getting some RKC bags, and a quick detach Batwing Fairing and quick detach sissy bar.

Go from solo to Tourer in a matter of minutes.